


Adoption

by shallowness



Category: Dark Angel
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-01
Updated: 2006-03-01
Packaged: 2018-10-22 15:23:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10699761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shallowness/pseuds/shallowness
Summary: For that night, he pretended he was one of their unit.





	Adoption

**Author's Note:**

> Missing scene set between the destruction of the signal and giving the unit the forged papers in ‘Bag ‘Em’. Indirect spoilers for ‘The Berrisford Agenda’. With thanks to FridayAngel for the beta. All idiocies mine. [Subject to some editing in April 2017.]
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own nor make any profit from these characters.

Alec set the gun aside, deliberately not looking her way as he dug a hole for it beneath some brush, pursing his lips. He didn’t want Max’s approval of the action – it was obviously too hot a piece to think about getting rid of any other way. And he hadn’t wanted a nod or a smile from her when he’d turned his car back for the freak-killers’ base camp earlier, so he hadn’t been disappointed when all he got for rescuing her was a lecture on not being half-assed. Able to make the most of the starlight to see, he carefully covered his excavations, and exaggeratedly wiped his hands.

Not that she bothered to notice any of that, Max was saving all her attention for the kids, which figured when one of them, Bugle-boy, was asking such dumb questions as whether they could go back to the barn. Apparently Max thought that he was too young to get a verbal smack-down about forgetting basic survival rules.

“No, we have to stay out here,” their self-appointed CO said, her voice neutral. “Morning comes – we’ll get you hooked up with fake IDs and you’ll be good to go.”

Good to go? Alec really wanted to offer them advice on picking transportation and where to stay, but Max would call it irrelevant. Still, he couldn’t resist saying, “Just get some serious miles between you and here.”

Some of the elder kids nodded. It had probably been a good thing that he’d opened his mouth about that. Alec shook his head, something he’d been doing a lot tonight.

Max had called her Logan as soon as they’d stopped moving and found this spot to bivouac, asking for papers for the kids.

“You want some?” she’d mouthed at Alec. He’d shaken his head in refusal - he still had his wallet, even if there wasn’t much of a plan in his head other than heading for the bright lights and making a stack. Maybe staying out of the way of the wannabe barbequeuers too. That was enough to work on in the short term. On his own terms.

Alec looked at the rest of the group, Zero had been volunteered for guard duty and the rest of them made a half-circle. Fixit had some scrap metal to hand and Max was walking away from the youngest kid, who looked ready to sleep, propped up against a tree. She crossed noiselessly over Bullet’s stretched-out leg, to stand next to Ralph, who was still up on her feet, playing with her hair.

“So why’d they let you keep it so long?” Max asked in a quiet voice.

“I passed my tests. I was being groomed for deep cover assignments.” As the hair-band rolled off Ralph’s hair onto her right hand, Alec looked away and considered the option of going back to his convertible where he could sleep for a few peaceful hours before the sun came up. The idea had definite advantages, for all he knew they snored, but he didn’t make a move.

The girls kept on chatting.

“I was waiting to be transferred into a group of other X-6s for more intensive training.”

“Well, that’s not happening any more.” Max told her.

Ralph’s voice was uncertain when she said, “Yes.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Fixit said from her position on the floor.

They were kids, Alec thought. He’d had more time on the outside – not as much as ‘Niner Max – but enough to make them seem so young, these X-6s and an X-8 whose head had just dropped in sleep. Soundless through birth and training, Alec walked over to the tree next to Bullet and deliberately lay down, joining their formation, knowing that they were all staring at him, even though he shut his eyes.

“Wake me when it’s my turn to pull sentry duty,” he murmured.


End file.
